of dayton



Dec. 30, 1930- w. H. ROBERTSON 1,786,454

CASH REGI STER Filed June 14, 1926 William H. Robertson Patented Dec. 30,1930

STATES PATET' orrica WILLIAM H. ROBERTSON, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL CASH REGISTER COMPANY, OF DAYTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF MARYLAND CASH REGISTER Application filed June 14,

This invention relates to improvements in cash registers and like machines, and more particularly to the type shown and described in Letters Patent of the United States, No.

1,360,151 issued to Bernie M. Shipley, November 23, 1920,

The object of this invention is to provide a novel means for'prerenting release of the machine when no record material is on the slip table.

'With this and incidental objects in view, the invention includes certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, the essential elements of which are set forth in appended claims, and a preferred form or embodiment of which is hereinafter described with reference to the drawings which accompany and form partof this specification.

Of said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of the record material container and shows the feeling device and the manipulative device for controlling the feeling device.

Fig. 2 is a detail View in side elevation of the motor release he and its coo aeratin a In general Described in general terms, the invention is designed to determine the effectiveness of a motor release key which controls a motor clutch of the type shown and described in Letters Patent of the United States, No. 1,14%,418, granted to Charles F. Kettering and lVilliam A. Chryst, on June 29, 1915.

Normally the motor release key, when depressed, rocks a release shaft through intermediate connections, to shift a clutch-dis abling member so as to release a motor clutch so as to connect the motor with the machine. However, it is desired to prevent an operation of the machine, which includes a printing mechanism, if there is no paper or other record material in position to be printed upon.

To this end, the clutch release shaft is arrangedto actuate a latch adapted, under certain conditions, to coact Witha shoulder 0.1.1 at

1926. Serial No. 115,924.

manually operated slide to arrest the clutch release shaft before it can displace the clutchdisabling lever.

A feeler finger is also provided to determine whether or not the latch shall be effective. The clutch release shaft starts to rotate immediately upon the beginning of the depression of the motor release key, and advances the feeler finger toward an opening in the record material container.

Assuming the presence of paper in the record material container, the feeler finger, as it enters the opening, contacts the paper and is thereby arrested against farther advancement.

The effect of the continued rotation of the clutch release shaft on the latch, in view of the resistance offered by the arrested feeler finger, is to shift the latch to a position in which it cannot strike the shoulder on the slide, and hence there is no interference with the rotation of this clutch release shaft, which can now be completed by the complete depression of the motor release key, to throw out the clutch disabling lever and free the clutch for operation.

However, absence of paper or other record material from the container permits the feeler linger, at the beginning of the rotation of the clutch release shaft, to enter a greater distance into the container, and hence no control is exercised over the latch, which, as the clutch release shaft continues its rotation, is brought against and arrested by the shoulder to prevent farther rotation of the clutch release shaft. At this point the motor release key may be fully depressed, the connections intermediate the motor release key and the clutch release shaft, permitting such relative motion, but such full depression of the motor release key, under the circumstances recited, will not effect a release of the machine for operation.

An operation of a special manipulative device withdraws the feeler finger from the record material container against the tension of a spring to permit the introduction of record material. Subsequent release of the special manipulative device enables the spring the. t eler finger into the me ord material container onl to be arrested b i 3 said record material, which results, as nereln above explained, in the release of the clutch mechanism for ooeratlon. The machine can never be released I01 operation unless record material is present in the container, conscqucntly a printed record will always be made each 01 cration of the machine.

In detail The motor clutch is substantially the same as that illustrated and described in United States Letters Patent, No. 1,14%,418, granted to Charles F. Kettering and Vvlilliam A. Chryst on June 29, 1915 and is provided with the usual spring actuated disk 80, which has secured thereon a block 31 adapted to be arrested by a clutch disabling arm 32 loose on a stud The arm has secured thereto, by means of a hub, an arm 34, which has attached thereto one end of a spring 35 constantly tending to rotate the arms 32 and 34: in counter-clockwise direction (Fig. 2). This movement is prevented by a stud 36, carried by the arm 32, which projects into a bifurcation of an arm 37 secured to clutch release shaft 38. Also secured to the shaft 38 is an arm 89 having a nose 4L0 which normally lies in contact with and is restrained by a flattened stud ll on a lever 42. The lever i2 is bifurcated to engage a stud on a detent 43 shiftably supported on studs i l mounted in the frame of tne machine. The detent 43 is provided with a slot 45 to cooperate with a stud on the motor release key 46. The detent 4,3 is held in its normal position, as shown in Fig. 2, by a spring 4-7.

Normally, depression of the hey d6 shifts the detent downwardly, thereby rocking the lever 12 clockwise to displace the stud i i from the path of the nose 1-0 of the arm 39, which permits the spring 35 to rock the arms and 87 and clutch release shaft 38 to release the clutch disk 30.

nlso secured to the shaft 38 is an arm (Fig. 1) upon which is pivoted a latch 56. The latch 56 carries a stud 57 held in engage meat with a f-ihoulder on the arm55byasprin 58. Pivoted to toe latch 56 is a U-shaped feeling linger 59 (Figs. 1 and 3) guided to move in a vertical direction by a pin 60, carried by the frame 61, which projects into a slot in one arm of the feeling finger 59. The upper end of the feeling finger is provided with a flange 62 (Fig. 3) adapted to contact the record iuatcria i on the bottom 63 of a recordu'iatcrialcon aincr. Upwardmovementof the feeling finger pr 'ses the record material against a top plate 6% of said container. The pivoted latch provided with a flange 65 which lies beneath the shoulder 66 on a manipulative feeling linger retracting device 67 slidably mounted on studs 68 on the frame 1. This retractingdevice is held at one limit of its travel by a spring 69 stretched between a stud on the device (37 and a stud on the frame 61.

lVhen the clutch release shaft 38 is rocked by the spring to shift the clutch disabling arm 32 to idle position and thus release the clutch, above described, the arm 55 on shaft 38 travels counter clockwise, (Fig. 1), carrying with it the latch 56 and feeling linger 59. This causes the feeling finger to enter the container opening formed therein.

If said finger 59 contacts record material in the container, will be arrested thereby before the flange 65 on the latch 56 engages the abutment or shoulder 66 of the manipulative device 67, thereby causingthe pivoted member or latch 56 to rotate about its pivot on the arm until. it clears the shoulder 66, to enable the arm to move far enough to permit the arm 32 to disengage from the block 31 of the disk 30. However, if no record material is in the container, the feeling linger 59 will be unobstructed in its travel and pass into the container and through an opening in the top plate 64 thereof, until the flange (55 engages the shoulder or ab tmcnt 66, thereby preventing further movement of the shaft 38 andv of the arm 32 which, at this time, has not moved far enough to be disengaged from the block 31. In this manner the releasing means prevented from completely releasing the motor clutch, if no record material. is in the container.

As long as the feeling finger remains in the container no record material can be inserted into the container because the feeling finger will prevent such insertion.

Before the partial release of the motor just described can be completed it is necessary to manually move the manipulative device 67 to the left (Fig. l) which will cause the pivoted member or latch 56 to be rotated in a clockwise direction to lower the feeling finger 59 from the record material container. This will permit insertion of record material into the container. After the record material has been inserted, the device 67 is released and the spring 69 causes the device to move toward the right, thereby permitting the pivoted member or latch 56 to follow and rock in a counter-clocl-zwisc direction to permit the feeling finger to again move upward. This time the feeling linger will be arrested by the record material, thereby stopping rotation of the pivoted member or late 1 56 in a counter-clockwise direction. However this movement of the pivoted member or latch and the feeling finger takes place during the first part of the movement of the device 67. Upon further movement of the device 67 toard the right, under the influence of the spring 69, the shoulder 66 will move out of the path of the flange 65 on the member or latch 56, thereby permitting the arm 55 to rock under influence of the spring 35 (Fig. 2) to complete the releasing movement of the loo arm 32 and permit the motor to operatethe machineJ During this movement of the arm the pivotedv member or latch will again rock in a-clockwise direction, because the feeling finger is held against movement at this time.-;

.A suitable number of type wheels 76 are provided which are differentially adjusted during the operation of the machine and a platen 77 carries the record material against the type wheels, thereby causing the record to be made.

Near the end of the operation of the machine, a stud-78 carried by a driving gear79 rotating counter-clockwise, .Willengage the upper end of the arm 34, which hasjbeen brought into its path. by the action of the spring 35 thereby returningthe arm 34toward the right (Fig. 2) which causes the arm 32 to be again moved :into the path ofthe block 31', which will arrest the disc 30 and unclutch the motor from the machine, thereby permitting the machine to come to rest.

A spring actuated non-repeat pawl 80 of the usual form is provided for preventing repeat operations of the machine'without first releasing the motor key 46. Upon depression of the motor key 46, the stud 41 will rock the paWl'8O counter-clockwise. If the operator should maintain the key 46 in depressed position after the completion of an operation, then when the stud 78 rocks the arm 34 to restore the arm 39 to its home position, the pawl 80 will be rocked into the path of the stud 41, thereby preventing the arm 39 from again releasing, after the stud 7 9 passes the end of the arm 34. However release of the key 46 by the operator permits the spring '47 to restore the lever 42, the detent 43, and key 46 to normal positions in which the machine can again be released.

While the form of mechanism herein shown and described is admirably adapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intended to confine the invention to the one form or embodiment herein disclosed, for it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

hat is claimed is:

1. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a record material container, a machine operating means, detaining means for said operating means, manually operated means to release said detaining means, means for arresting said detaining means after it has made a partial operation when no record material is in the container, and a manipulative device for moving the arresting means into a position, whereby said arresting means will be ineffective upon subsequent insertion of record material into the container after the manipulative device is released.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a record material container,

Y 4. In a machine of (If) a) a machine operating means, detaining means for said operating means, means to release thedetainmg means,-a manipulative device for arresting said detaining means when no record material is in the container, and means adapted to be operated by said manipulative device, and controlled by record material upon vsubsequent insertion thereof into the container, for completing the release of said detaining means.

3. In a machine of the class describehthc combination of a record material container, a machine operating means, a detaining an to hold said operating means against operation, a rockable shaft for positioning said arm, a'levei' for preventing said shaftfrom rocking, a manipulative device for moving said lever to release said shaft, and a feelin device-adapted to move into said'container for automatically determining whether said shaft shall be arrested or complete its releasing operation. a

the class described, the combination ofa record material container, a machine operating means, a detaining arm to hold said operating means against operation, a rockable shaft for positioning said arm, a lever-for preventing said shaft from rocking, manually operated means for moving said lever to release said shaft, an arm on said rockable shaft, a pivoted member on said last mentioned arm, a manipulative device, and a feeling device carried .by said pivoted member and adapted to move into said container for controlling said pivoted member when said shaft is released, whereby said manipulative device arrests said pivoted member when no record material is in the container thereby arresting the rockable shaft. v

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination of arecordmaterial container, a machine operating means, a detaining arm to hold said operating means against operation, a rockable shaft for positioning said arm, a lever for preventing said shaft from rocking, manually operated means for moving said lever to release said shaft, an arm on said rockable shaft, pivoted member on said last mentioned arm, a manipulative device, a feeling device carried by said pivoted member and adapted to move into said container for controlling said pivoted member when said shaft is released, whereby said manipulative device arrests said pivoted member when no record material is in the container, thereby arresting the rockable shaft, said manipulative device being adapted to operate said pivoted means to withdraw the feeler from the container and out of the path of record material subsequently inserted into the container, and means for withdrawing the manipulative device to render the feeling device operable to re-enter the container and contact the record material to control the pivoted member to release the operating means.

6. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an operating mechanism therefor, detaining means for the operating mechanism, a record material container, a feeling mechanism cooperating with the container for controlling the detaining means to prevent operation of the operating mechanism when no record is in the container, and a manipulative device to-withdraw the feeling mechanism out of the path of record material subsequently insertable into the container, said feeling mechanism thereafter adapted to contact the inserted record material to control the detaining means to release the operating mechanism.

7 In a machine of the class described, the combination with an operating mechanism therefor; detaining means to prevent effective operation of the mechanism; manually operated means normally in control of the detaining means; and a receptacle for insertable record material; of means to prevent release of the detaining means when no record material is present in the receptacle; and a manipulative device to control the lastnamed means, to enable the insertion of record material into the receptacle. I

8. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a machine-operating means; detaining means to prevent effective operation of the operating means; manually operated means normally eflective to control the detaining means; and a record material container; of means to render the control of the operating means by the manually operated means ineffective when no record material is in the container; and to prevent insert'ion of record material in the container; and a manipulative device to withdraw said last-named means from its position wherein it obstructs insertion of record material into the container.

9. In amachine of the class described, the combination with a machine-operating mechanism; detaining means to hold the operating mechanism ineffective; a record material container; and manually operated means to control the detaining means; of means to render the control of the detaining means by the manually operated means wholly effective only when record material is in the container, and only partially effective when no record material is in the container; and a manipulative device adapted to withdraw the last-named means from its position wherein it obstructs the introduction of record material into the container and the consequent release of the detaining means.

10. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a record material container, a normally locked machine-operating means, detaining means therefor, manipulative mechanism to control said detaining means,

a feeling device adapted to move into said container to determine the effectiveness of said manipulative mechanism, a manipulative device adapted to arrest said detaining means in the absence of record material in said container, and means for returning said manipulative device to its original position and withdrawing the feeling device from said container near the end of an operation of the operatingmeans when record material is present in said container.

11. In a machine of the class described, the combination with an operating mechanism therefor; detaining means to prevent operation of the machine by its operating mechanism, manually operated means normally in control of the detaining means; and a receptacle for insertable record material, of means to prevent release of the detaining means when no record material is in the receptacle, such means, when effective, also preventing the insertion of record material into the receptacle, and a manipulative device to retract the last-mentioned means to enable the insertion of record material into the receptacle'and the consequent release of the operating mechanism.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

WILLIAM H. ROBERTSON. 

